GeographyDude
Gone Fishin'
With the idea that if we're going to free the slaves, let's do it right. And if we're going to give people a chance to support themselves in an agricultural society, 40 acres and a mule is a pretty good way to do it.
AHC: during U.S. Reconstruction, Robert E. Lee advocates 40 acres and a mule?
- Thread starter GeographyDude
- Start date
You have two cows. The government takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and pours the milk down the drain. It then requires you to fill out forms accounting for the missing cow.
GeographyDude
Gone Fishin'
only on a small scale, as a make-shift remedy for all the newly freed persons and families following Sherman's army.
But it's something taught in the school. Just the phrase is catchy and people think it was much more common than it actually was.
GeographyDude
Gone Fishin'
even though I've heard it before, it's still funny!
Just wish we had just as funny jokes for overbearing corporate power.
twovultures
Donor
This is more the motivation that would actually work in the south-but there is still a very strong economic incentive to keep freed blacks both poor and close so that the wealthy southerners could keep a supply of cheap labor. Something would have to happen to get rid of this motivation, or have the racism of the southern planter class overcome their greed.
even though I've heard it before, it's still funny!
Just wish we had just as funny jokes for overbearing corporate power.
You have two cows. The local megacorporation makes you pay rent on the cows, forces you to sell your milk to them at reduced prices, and pays in scrip that is only accepted at the company store. If you make enough scrip, you can possibly rent a third cow.
GeographyDude
Gone Fishin'
Please notice that if we define disloyal as officer of Confederate army or official of the Confederacy, we generally separate off the planter class.
In other words, not all of this has to be goody two-shoes stuff which we here tend to think doesn't work too well.
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Maybe there are a lot more slaves by the time of the Civil War (70% or so of the population) and they rise up in rebellion in the Deep South and gain the support of the Union. Lots of dead plantation owners and redistributed land in the territories they took (lets say Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina) and a lot of fear and hatred towards the now freed slaves in the rest of the Deep South, the Upper South, and further West.
GeographyDude
Gone Fishin'
Somewhere between that and the status quo is a happy medium!
Least I hope there is.
GeographyDude
Gone Fishin'
And remember, Robert E. Lee was a devout Christian.
Now, he might believe African-American persons can handle regular farming, but they don't have the combination of native intelligence and family experience to handle the difficult times and the real tricky choices. That is, he may have believed in a bunch of racist and prejudiced stuff, with just enough cloaking to keep believing it.
But all the same, he may have felt a religious obligation to help and to help effectively, which would involve recruiting others to help. And this might well play out in different ways.
Now, he might believe African-American persons can handle regular farming, but they don't have the combination of native intelligence and family experience to handle the difficult times and the real tricky choices. That is, he may have believed in a bunch of racist and prejudiced stuff, with just enough cloaking to keep believing it.
But all the same, he may have felt a religious obligation to help and to help effectively, which would involve recruiting others to help. And this might well play out in different ways.
